A/N: I hope you enjoyed the last one. Thank you for your support. It means the world to me. :)

This chapter is written as a birthday present for a very dear friend of mine, Reshmi. I hope all your dreams come true, little one. Love you. xoxo

Chapter-29: Upbeat, Upstart, Upstairs

Word Prompts: Upbeat, upstart, upstairs

Choose one word and write what your imagination dictates. For an added challenge, include all three words in your entry.

~*~*~*DreamWeaver*~*~*~

"Emmett, you know I love you, don't you, kid?" my dad asks loudly over the upbeat music my doof of a cousin has playing.

"Of course, Uncle Charlie," Em replies with a grin. Short of batting his eyelashes and drawing an imaginary halo on top of his head, he acts like he's an angel around my parents.

"Good," dad says with satisfaction before leaning close to Emmett's ear and yelling at the top of his lungs, "Then shut that ridiculous jumble of noise you call music down. It's getting on my nerves."

The yell catches Em off guard and he almost topples over from his lounge chair in his haste to shut the rap song he has on repeat.

I cannot help the snort that escapes me at the sight, making my dad turn his angry eyes on me.

"What's happening to the youth of your generation?" he asks, sounding rhetorical.

I raise an eyebrow at him and ask back, "What happened, dad? Did mom pour a glass of water on you to wake you up this morning? Or did a bird do its business on your head while you were taking your morning stroll?"

My words are meant to be a tease and nothing more. So when instead of grumbling at my smartass comments like usual, dad's face turns red and he starts to mutter under his breath, Em and I let out a collective gasp.

"No! Aunt Reneé poured water on you to wake you up?" Trust Emmett to overreact and be the drama queen.

Dad presses his lips together and just shakes his head.

I hazard a guess this time. "A bird pooped on you this morning?" I'm honestly not a bad egg, but the imagery of my dad's hair and his beloved handlebar sprinkled with bird poop is too funny for me to keep quiet.

A choking sound comes out of me which makes Em look at me, and then we're both laughing and snorting like two idiots.

Dad glares at the two of us before letting out a long sigh. "It wasn't bird poop," he says.

"Then what was it?"

"Urine … human urine."

His answer makes me gag and I'm out of my seat and as far away from his as the living room permits in a flash. "Eww. Daddy, how did you get human urine on you?"

He opens his mouth to answer, but Emmett, ever the knowledgeable, steps in. "Ooohh. I know. Maybe Aunt Reneé peed in her sleep and you slipped on the pee?"

My mom takes that minute to enter the living room and throws a scandalized look at him. "Emmett McCarty, what did you just say?"

"Shit, Aunt Reneé, I was just taking a guess. Bed wetting at your age isn't that uncommon …" He trails off when he sees me make throat slashing movements to tell him to cut it off. He offers mom a sheepish smile before asking, "You didn't pee in your sleep, did you?"

"No! How could you even think that? I'm very disappointed in you, young man," she scolds him. "I'll be having a conversation with Ginny tonight about your guessing expertise. And no cookies for you today."

His face pales at the thought of no cookies and his mom finding out about his guess, and he promptly starts groveling. "Aunt Reneé, I'm so sorry. You know I'm an upstart guy, don't you?"

Watching him feels like watching a train wreck. I know that mom is barely holding on to the urge to whack him upside the head for the comment he made already, and now this?

Fortunately for him, dad decides to interfere. "Son? You do know that upstart applies to things like situations or inanimate objects, don't you?"

Em stops his blabbing and then nods excitedly. "Yes! Exactly! I really don't know what I'm talking about, Aunt Reneé. So please forgive me?" He gives her his famous dimpled-smile.

Mom pretends to give him a stern look before breaking into a smile. "How can I ever stay mad at my favorite nephew?"

Oh my God! This is so unfair!

I decide to protest this manipulation and exclaim, "Mom, he's your only nephew. Besides he called you a bed-wetter. How can you forgive him so easily?"

"Oh hush, Bella!" mom tells me. "He's just a little naïve."

Dad must notice my rebellious look because he quickly tries to deflect the situation from turning into a pouting competition between Emmett and me—by revealing the truth about the pee incident.

"Three drunks peed on my car."

There's silence in the room for a heartbeat before Emmett asks, "What? Were you inside the car at that time?"

Dad rolls his eyes at him in response to his dumb question and continues on with his sordid tale. "I went to Waylon's Bar last night to check up on the old man. There, I saw three kids—or big babies, if you'll prefer—break into a fight."

"You got into a bar fight?" I ask with wide eyes, not believing that my good old almost-retired dad would get dragged into bar fights at his age. But why else will the guys pee on his car?

"No! I tried to stop those idiots," he answers.

"Then the pee?"

He sighs. "That's where the disrespectful behavior comes in. One of the idiots called me stupid and then puked on me, and after I'd told them to beat it, I came out of the bar in time to see them peeing on my car."

I narrow my eyes, wondering who the fuck had the balls to call my dad stupid. I know he's a little stupid at times, but he's my dad. No one gets to call him stupid. "He called you stupid?" I ask in a deceptively calm voice.

He remains silent for a moment before giving up the gem of the story. "He called my mustache stupid."

"Oh God!" Mom shakes her head at him. "Honey, you need to lose the handlebar. You can keep the mustache, but not the handlebars."

That makes him shake his head vehemently. "No! Ren, those three didn't seem like the sharpest tools in the shade. I mean, the one who called my mustache stupid definitely seemed to be lacking a bit in the upstairs department," he says, pointing at his temple.

Emmett, being the dumbass he is, lets out a whoop and holds his hand out to hi-five dad. "Yeah, Uncle Charlie! Your handlebar rocks!"

I hope for his sake that he's doing this for the cookies because otherwise, I'll be worried for the sanity of my dear cousin as well.

A/N: So now you know who the Hulk Hogan is. ;)

Share your thoughts with me and leave a review, please?

This one has been one long chapter. And because I love you guys, there's gonna be an update tomorrow as well. :D

And tomorrow, we get PLPB and Mystery Girl back together. ;)

See you tomorrow then.

Thanks for reading.

Take care.

Ann